Women’s World Boxing Championships: History, Most medals won by a boxer, and more

Indian boxer MC Mary Kom. (Image: Twitter)
By Pushkar Pandey | Mar 16, 2023 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The Women’s Boxing Championship has always been a big event in the boxing arena, which has attracted all the boxing lovers. The first-ever Women’s Boxing Championship was held in 2001 and was hosted by Scranton, Pennsylvania in the US. It took almost seven years to organize the WBC after women boxing was acknowledged at the 13th AIAB Congress in Beijing. The first edition of the Women’s Boxing Championship was impactful and motivating.

A total of 125 boxers from almost 30 countries took part in the event. In the first edition, Russia was the table topper standing with 4 gold medals. Elena Sabitova grabbed gold in the 45 kg category, followed by fellow country boxers Elena Karpetcheva, Irina Sinetskaya and Olga Domouladzhanova in the 54 kg, 67 kg, and 81 kg categories respectively.

Latest edition

The 12th edition of Women’s Boxing Championship was hosted by Turkey in Istanbul from 8 to 20 May 2022. This event was extended from 10 to 12 weight category. Algeria, Kosovo, Lithuania, Mozambique, Spain, and Uzbekistan won their first medals at the Women’s World Boxing Championships. Turkey emerged as the table toppers by grabbing 7 medals in total which included five gold and two bronze.

The prize money was of $100,000 for gold medalist, $50,000 for silver medalist and $25,000 for silver medalist. In total, 310 boxers participated from 72 different countries. One of the main highlights of the event was the Russian and Belarusian boxers were not allowed to participate in the championship because of Russia-Ukraine war. India also won a gold medal in the name of Nikhat Zareen. She defeated Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand in 52 kg category.

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Things to know

  • In 2018, Mary Kom defeated Ukrainian boxer Hanna Okhota with a 5–0 win in the 48 kg weight category, she is now tied with Cuban legend Felix Savon’s haul of six golds.
  • Nikhat Zareen is the only second Indian to win gold outside India after Mary Kom who did it four times out of her six gold medals.

Most number of gold medals by any Boxer

RankNameCountryFromToGold
1Mary Kom India200120196
2Katie Taylor Ireland200620165
3Irina Sinetskaya Russia200120123
4Yang Xiaoli China201420193
5Mary Spencer Canada200520103

Overall Medal Table from 2001-2022

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Russia24112560
2 China 18151750
3 Turkey1181635
4 India1082139
5 United States892239
6 North Korea871025
7 Canada831728
8 Ireland81110
9 Kazakhstan551323
10 Italy45413

Read more: Women’s World Boxing Championships 2023: LIVE Streaming, When and Where to Watch, Schedule